LO C AL F L AVO R
GET TO THE GREEK The mainstays of a centuryold immigrant tradition in Charlotte BY KATHLEEN PURVIS
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CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // JANUARY 2022
COVID UNLEASHED so many losses and miseries that lamenting the cancellation of a Greek festival felt trivial. Not being able to watch teenagers dance arm in arm while you lick loukoumades syrup off your fingers at the annual Yiasou Festival didn’t compare with the kind of sacrifices so many have made. And yet, walking around the fellowship hall at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral on a Friday afternoon in August, it was hard not to mourn yet another loss. Volunteers had been rolling stuffed grape leaves for dolmades and filling freezers with spanakopita for weeks before the church decided to cancel the full festival and do drive-thru with food and pastries.
It didn’t stop them, though: The baklava sessions in August still brought out dozens of church members to layer phyllo, brush on melted butter and syrup, and strew chopped nuts. For Greek Charlotte, the preparations for Yiasou, usually held the week after Labor Day in September, start in July. The cooking sessions are like watching high schoolers build homecoming floats—generations of local families of Greek heritage come to catch up and show the youngsters how it’s done. Newcomers to Charlotte are often surprised to learn that this Southern city has a sweet Greek heart. Scratch a lot of local restaurants, and you’ll find feta, oregano, and olive oil layered under the gravy biscuits and fried chicken.
PETER TAYLOR
FOOD+DRINK
